A Fateful Encounter
Eliza was currently staying in the Pink Lotus Guild Hall, a massive and beautiful mansion-like property that reminded her of a smaller version of her own homes guest house! Waking up to star the day with a yawn, she took off her velvet sleeping mask and began to get dressed. She didn't enjoy doing all of this herself, but unfortunately her butlers and maids were on a bit of a strike considering she couldn't afford to pay them, not since daddy had so rudely cut her off! Interrupted her morning routine was a knock on the door which Eliza regretfully answered. "Uh hello?" Elia's tone was very rude, opening the door with one hand on her hip and another foot tapping on the floor, it was clear she had very little patience. It was another guild member, "Sorry to disturb you Eliza! It's just that.. rents due soon! Here ya' go! Gotta give one to everybody." The girl flashed a nervous smile before scurrying down he hall to the next door, meanwhile Eliza had already slammed hers shut! "Isn't being in this guild enough payment! Ugh!" Eliza groaned, throwing the bill onto her vanity. She was going to have to get a JOB. After an hour so of getting dressed, doing her hair, and all that jazz, Eliza went to the Guilds Lounge where the Job Board happened to be. Peering aimlessly at the missions, Eliza's eyes wandered to the highest paying one there! Ripping it from the board with dollar signs in her eyes. Defeating a bunch of bad bandits was well worth this amount of money! Hiring a carriage driver with what little jewel she had, she managed to arrive at the location, or pretty close to it, in style. Now, if only she knew where they were hiding.... Aaron Kenrith had been staying in an a hostel in a small town just outside of Clover Town, on the opposite side of its mountains. Traveling across the country was something that Aaron had grown used to, staying in various small towns and doing small missions for them to keep money on him and to help people. This morning was no different than a typical one, waking up to sun beaming across his face and illuminating the sheathed sword resting on the nightstand next to him. He slowly got ready, putting on his white robe and matching gloves while strapping the sword across his back. "Mr. Kenrith!" A loud, masculine voice echoed from behind his door, followed by a note sliding under it. "Found this in the mail this morning, figured you might want to partake." "Thanks!" He called back in his high pitched voice. The note was a job listing requesting for a mage to help the nearby Clover Town with some bandits hiding in the mountains. He didn't need to look at the payout to decide to take the job. Finishing getting ready he said by to his hosts and made his way to the town. Preparing himself for whatever was about to unfold. Exiting the carriage in the middle of Clover Town, Eliza looked on the jobs flyer, mumbling to herself the words as she read. Apparently she needed to meet with a man named Erick Cross to discuss the details of the job. Following the directions to the mans house, which was one of the bigger and better homes in Clover, Eliza knocked, the door being opened by the man himself! He wore nice clothes, and was quite old. "Ah come in! I've been expecting you." He said, extending his arm towards the living room couch. Taking a seat and crossing her legs like a lady, a butler came up, offering her tea which she happily accepted. She could get used to this! High priority clientele. Waiting for several minutes, the man had seemingly disappeared and despite the luxury's surrounding her, Eliza's patience was once again wearing thin... After a few more minutes the man entered back with Aaron in tow. "I apologise for the wait. Your partner for the mission just arrived." He said with a casual tone as Aaron walked over and took a seat in a chair next to her. "Nice to meet you. I'm Aaron Kenrith. But you can call me Aaron." He said with extending his hand to her. "A partner? That WASN'T on the flyer." Eliza got up from the couch, flyer in hand as she shoved it in the mans face, though of course she was only twelve years old! So she had to stand on her tippy toes in order to accomplish that feat. "My my, well I suppose it wasn't!" The tall contractor said with a chuckle. "I suppose I'll have to just pay you both double!" Eliza's eyes nearly popped out of her head... d-d-double!? Oh the things she could buy! "Hmph... fine." Eliza said, turning her head ever so slightly as if to add dramatic effect. Now she turned her attention to her so called partner. She needed to act right in front of the customer so she decided to play nice. "I'm Eliza Reagan, the one and only, I'm sure you've heard of my family." Eliza gave a bright smile. Her family was one of the main companies which produced holder magic items! Such as color change, communication lacrima, and even magical cards! Aaron's eyes lit up when he heard her family name and smiled. "Oh course I have. You guys are amazing. I'm actually trying to save up some money to buy an item you guys have." He felt his face flush a bit as he gushed about what he thought of her company. "A-anyway..." "I'll give you an autograph later." Eliza said, her nose held high in the air as the man practically super charged her already ginormous ego. Their contractor interrupted the conversation, asking them both to sit down so they could discuss the rest of the business affairs. Eliza took her seat on the comfy couch. "I'm sorry to interrupt the fun but unfortunately this is urgent. The mountain bandits... well me and my daughter were traveling back into town and they robbed our carriage! They took all of our valuables and..." The man began to tear up, Eliza didn't know what to do! She was terrible at this stuff. Awkwardly she looked toward the man, Aaron, hoping that he would be able to comfort him. "They took my daughter." He sobbed uncontrollably. Eliza was disgusted by the situation. What a big baby. A big bay with a big wallet. Aaron felt a twinge in his stomach and his heart as he heard the story. He reached forward and placed a hand on the man's shoulder, his on magical aura radiating off creating a soothing warmth in the room. "Say no more. We will deal with those bandits and bring your daughter back safe and sound. You have my word." The man thanked them, helping them out the door and waving goodbye with tears in his eyes. When they were far enough away, Eliza began to talk. "I'm going to make this really clear mister, he might have called us partners but we are FAR from it." Eliza really didn't want to work with the man! He was a stranger and a boy! Yucky! Storming away towards the mountains she hoped he wouldn't follow. Aaron kept up with the girl with ease as he was fairly taller than her. "We don't have to be partners after this but we need to work as a team for this mission." He said, his feminine voice trying to hide his hurt. "Stop following me, you creep. I'm going to handle this by myself, and get double the reward!" Eliza was very happy about that, it cost a lot of money to live such a luxurious life. Maybe finally she could hire her staff back on board! Having reached an area in the mountains, a path carved into them which looked rather steep and very difficult to climb, Eliza groaned. Looking at her beautiful gown and carefully styled hair, this just wouldn't do. "On second thought, you're going to carry me." Eliza smirked, walking towards the boy and raising her arms like a toddler would do to their parent. She was serious. Aaron looked at the small girl and tried not to laugh as she walked like she was a child. "I-i don't know. I wouldn't want to drop you or anything..." He said but then looked at the steep climb. Adjusting his sword he bent down. "F-fine...but on my back so it will be easier." Eliza hopped on, kicking at him as if he was some type of horse. "Hurry up, I don't have all day." She said, looking at the long twisty and turny path. "You better be a god runner." Eliza was used to this treatment, being pampered and spoiled was how she had been raised! And this was no different. Aaron ignored her words as he started to jog through the winding path. Keeping one hand in front of him to push away branches and trees and protect the charge on his back. Every once in a while he had to using his free hand to help climb up a steep hill. After good 15 minutes of this had passed they cleared a hill that over looked the bandits camp. He bent down to his knees to let her off. "We're here." After fifteen minutes of nagging, complaining, and hitting, they had arrived. "Finally. Hmph." Eliza said, hopping from his back. "Took you long enough." Seeing the camp, Eliza reached for her cute little purse, digging around before eventually finding a shiny key ring which held three silver celestial gate keys and walking towards the camp. Turning around briefly to tease her so called partner. "Well, are you coming?" She snapped, skipping towards the hideout. Aaron didn't know how to feel about his "partner". She had used and abused him the whole time as they walked. He took it all of course because he was soft when it came to verbal confrontation. When he saw her take out the keys he nodded and walked forward. Taking a breath he followed her. "Lets go."